Book review: Redundancy knocks 'The 100' off of seasoned professionals' reading list

Your to-do list doubled overnight.

That seems to happen once or twice a week, and it never gets any better. Tasks are finished and something else replaces them, which is what you're told happens when you're an entrepreneur-but if you readThe 100 by Tom Salonek, it might help you keep the list to a manageable status.

If only your business grew as quickly as your to-do list, right? When you're running a new company, there's always something to remember, which is where Salonek can help. Since starting his Minneapolis business in 1991, he's been keeping track of things that work to make a business operate successfully.

At the top of the list is happiness.

While you're undoubtedly putting in a lot of hours now, it's important to have a work-life balance that makes you happy. Step away occasionally to reassess yourself, and be sure to offer the same opportunities to those who work for you.

Use this book to know exactly how to get new hires up to speed faster. Then, show them the way to strong job satisfaction through encouragement. Hire smart, hire slow, but fire fast when you need to.

Once you've got your best team, ask them for input on the important aspects of your business.

Finally, relax. Use each point of this book individually, piecemeal, slowly. You're in this for the long haul. Take your time to get there.

Author and Intertech owner Salonek jumps into his list with no fanfare, save but a quick introduction that doesn't really help set the tone of what's to come and causing not just a little confusion. There's a lot of repetition here, a lot of rah-rahing, commonsensical advice and many things that will make established businesspeople roll their eyes.

But that's OK. This book doesn't seem to be for them anyhow.

The real appeal here, I think, is for business newbies who need bullet points to guide them through the storminess of startup.The 100 is very methodical, it covers lots of steps in small bites and it's relatively quick to read.

That all adds up to a book that seasoned businesspeople will probably find redundant, but that entrepreneurs may need to live by for awhile. And if you lean toward that second category, then putThe 100 on your growing to-do list.

The 100: Simple Steps for Building a Winning Business

Tom Salonek, Agate B2

$14, 168 pages